Forced Identity
by Claude Kenni
Summary: Before being trapped inside The World, Tsukasa was brought up to be something she wasn't. This is a story of how she deals with her upbringing and her peers Chapter 5 A gathering gone wrong is only the start of an awesome story
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've finally squeezed one out! A fic I feel like publishing. A .hack//Sign fic at that! Somehow I've always found the games easier to write about, but Tsukasa is a character that has intrigued me for a while now. I feel that if I write a fic about this character, I can understand their background a little more as I do. Oh yeah, and beware of the spoiler fairies. I'm only going off what I know, so let me know how I'm doing or if I'm wrong about something. Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism, and flames will be used to roast my marshmallows with. Enjoy!  
  
Forced Identity  
  
School. It was supposed to be her refuge.  
  
Truth be told, school was also not a happy place for the young girl, but it was sadly a far happier place than her home. But at school, she could at least access computer terminals in peace; not like at home. At home, she was allowed a mere two hours. At school she had until she went home, even if only after school hours. Today however, she had taken too long. She was much later than usual.  
  
Her slender legs worked to pump the pedals of her bike as best she could in her school uniform. From all the exercise and the heat outside, a fine sheet of sweat had covered her delicate facial features. Ignoring the sweat that had trickled down her face, she rounded the corner of the street she lived on, practically jumping off her bike when she reached her drive way.  
  
Fumbling through her small backpack for her key as she stood in front of the door, her heart raced as she tried to get in as soon as possible. The door opened for her, a large hand shooting out and grabbing her roughly by the wrist. She squealed in protest as the powerful arm yanked her through the door frame, tears already forming at the corners of her eyes.  
  
"You're late." boomed the voice that belonged to the arm. She nodded quickly, stuttering as she tried to gain the courage to speak. Maybe even make up an excuse. But it wouldn't work...he didn't believe in excuses. Not from her.  
  
"I-I'm...I'm sorry, father..." was all she could manage. The already harsh grip on her wrist tightened as he brought her to meet his face.  
  
"Sorry doesn't turn the clock back ten minutes!" She could smell the alcohol on his breath. He jerked her around by her wrist again, feeling it pop slightly in the process as he brought his hand back.  
  
"P-please, father..." she choked out, knowing what to expect for violating his strict rules. "don't make h-hurt...!" A look of disgust and annoyance crossed over his face.  
  
"Hurt?" He scoffed. "You haven't seen hurt yet!" The hand was brought down, the backside of it swiftly connecting with her face, knocking the cowering child to the floor. With sobs racking her body she attempted to get up and face the drunken lecture she would receive. Suddenly, she felt the very same hand roughly grab her auburn hair, yanking harshly on it as she could not help but release another shriek.  
  
"Gotta cut that damned hair of your before it gets any longer." He snorted. "Startin' to look like a girl with hair like that. Do you understand me?" Finally releasing her from any kind of hold, she scrambled to her feet, bowing in apology.  
  
"Y-yes, sir." She lifted her head, but did not dare meet his menacing gaze. She saw him motion upstairs out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"Now get up there and do your homework! And if I catch you playing that damned game instead I'll lock your computer up in storage for two months!" He done it before. He'd do it again.  
  
Running upstairs she tossed her bag onto her bed, grabbed a change of regular clothes, and headed towards the bathroom. Shutting and locking the door, she proceeded to change, pulling off her female school uniform, remembering how angry her father was that she had to wear it and how he had blamed it all on her.  
  
She flinched as the shirt she was removing came into contact with her left cheek. Tossing the shirt to the corner where the rest of her uniform resided, she looked in the mirror. A bruise had begun to form where she had been hit. Her slender fingers crept up to her face to inspect the injury. She cringed upon touching it, praying it would not remain for long. Though no one talked to her regularly, her teacher asked questions when she saw the black marks that were obvious on her pale, soft skin.  
  
"I tripped and fell."  
  
"I ran in to the edge of the door."  
  
"I landed on my arm when I fell off my bike."  
  
She was starting to run out of excuses. She was about as coordinated as the adverage teenager, which wasn't saying much at all, but she wasn't a clutz. All she could do was blame herself when questioned. She didn't want any trouble, she just wanted to be left alone. However, it seemed to her that the people that want to be left alone the most are the ones that are left alone the least.  
  
Constantly made fun of by her classmates for having her nose in a gaming magazine or a graphic novel, the teenage girl was never truly left alone. Her class was the only one that picked on her at least. During lunch hour, the other students didn't bother her. They were too busy with talking with their friends or significant others. Why should they bother with one girl when they had to keep their own lives outside of the classroom in check? Oh, a guy teased her here and there, but that was about all.  
  
Sometimes she would look at the couples in envy. She didn't particularly find any of the guys attractive - mostly due to the way she was brought up, but it was more that they had someone. Someone they could share their deepest fears or closests secrets with. Did some of them know what they had? To the teenage girl, it didn't seem so. A few pairs might have, but with some others, it just seemed like they were playing a game. She overheard so many unspeakable things in the girls bathroom. Most of the topics were their boyfriends or friends. After the conversations, they would cling to their partner's arm as if it were no big deal and talk with their best friend like they had said nothing at all.  
  
This world is so...crazy.  
  
A world where no one could be themselves, and those that were themselves were persecuted. Even she could not be herself. Her father would not let her. She couldn't help that she was female; it wasn't as though the brown haired teenager had a choice. But after her mother had passed away, her father quickly set out to change things and raised her as though she were a boy. In his drunken fits he sometimes forgot she was really a girl. He wanted a boy, and he hated her for not being one. Deep in the back of her mind, she knew he hated her...blamed her for everything. But she took it all instride.  
  
Dressing like a boy didn't bother her that much. She looked over the change of clothes she had picked out. Boy's clothes. That was all she was bought, never a skirt, never jewelry, not even feminine undergarments. She was not allowed to have anything of the like and was forced to wear men's underwear. Even her hair was shorter than the adverage female adolescent.  
  
She looked at herself in the mirror again. She saw the auburn colored hair was starting to reach her shoulders again. She also saw the bruise on her cheek again. She looked down, trying not to have to see her pitiful form that the mirror mocked her with, only to see a part of her she hated the most. Her chest. Or more precisely, her breasts. This was what unmistakably defined her as a woman. They could not be hidden, as the bumps in her shirts always gave them away.  
  
Growling in frustration, she turned to face the left, giving her body a profile in the mirror. She grappled with the two pieces of flesh, trying to push them into her chest, flatten them out somehow. The sports bra she had kept secretly helped make them a bit more discreet, but as her body kept developing they were getting harder to hide.  
  
The young student grip them a little harder, annoyed at their continued presence. She knew they wouldn't leave, but only if they were not there. They were the reason her father hated her. The lower half of her body was easily hid, but the upper half made her maturing features more obvious. She thanked the heavens she at least wasn't pretty. She knew she wasn't, as she was reminded everyday. Sighing defeatedly, she released her grip and set about putting her regular clothes on.  
  
If only she could have been a boy, she would have had his love. She wouldn't have to live in hell. But she was no fool. True, the auburn haired girl's grade's were not the best due to her apathy, but most of her intelligence would put an adult to shame. Adults were, after all, too selfish to be intelligent. Too busy promoting themselves or trying to work their way up to proverbial ladder to stop and think. So she knew very well she was stuck the way she was.  
  
Returning to her room, she opened up a random school book. Algebra. Fun. She pretended to start the assignment, knowing fully well that her father was about to open her door and make sure she was working. Sure enough, five minutes into the assignment he came in. She looked up at him for a brief moment before returning to her work.  
  
He walked back out, leaving her door open only a crack so he could check again without opening the door. Waiting until she heard him go back downstairs the teenager began listening carefully for signs of her father leaving for work. The constant sound of him walking back and forth across the living room were telltale signs of his coming departure. She heard the door close but did not make a move for the computer just yet. She'd learned the hard way to be patient.  
  
She heard the sound of a car starting up and then driving off. She worked casually on the homework for about five minutes before slamming the book closed. Peering out the blinds of her window, the young teenage girl was finally confident her father was gone. Practically jumping into her computer chair, she booted up her terminal, watching the name of the operating system, Altimit, fly across the screen as her desktop loaded.  
  
Smiling for the first time all day, she slipped on the neuro goggles as she double clicked the "The World" icon and was greeted by the log-in screen.  
  
Login name: Tsukasa Password: *****  
  
Familiar golden rings descended around her as she warped into one of the root towns of the game; Mac Anu. Looking down at her alter ego, she smiled with satisfaction. In this world, she could be a boy and no one would know. In this world, she could speak her mind unafraid of others. In this world, she was Tsukasa the wavemaster; he wasn't afraid of anything. And most importantly, in this world, she was alone.  
  
Tsukasa smirked to himself as he headed into town and sat down at his favorite spot. No one ever really came to this area, and he had a good view of the lake that the town was built upon. Sighing contently, the wavemaster picked up a rock and tossed it into the water, watching the ripple the stone made upon contact with the liquid.  
  
This is my world. he thought somberly as he gazed up at the stars. His peace was broken, however by the sound of footsteps. The violet eyed boy turned his head so the person could be caught just out of the corner of his eye. Some Long Arm. He turned back to his lake and his stars.  
  
"Hey there," greeted the spearsman. "care to join my party? We need one more and it'd be great to have a wavemaster with us." Tsukasa was sure it would be great to have a wavemaster. But he came here to be alone, and so he did not bother to even answer the intruder of his privacy. After standing there for thirty seconds, it became apparent that he wasn't going to leave without some help.  
  
"Leave me alone." stated the silver haired boy. The long arm made a confused noise.  
  
"Huh? What's the problem?" he inquired. The amethyst eyes of the young boy closed in silent frustration.  
  
"I said go away!" This time he put a bit more force into his voice. Taking the hint, the player finally walked away, leaving the platinum haired boy to his peaceful solitude.  
  
With so many people playing "The World", he was occasionally bother by people wanting to "party up" or "buddy up" with him. Those kinds of people bothered him. In the real world, he was harassed all day. He wished he could make people in this world understand that this was the only place where he received privacy. No one ordered him around or told him what to do here.  
  
Standing up, Tsukasa went to the item shop, making sure he was stocked up on items before he went exploring. Father would not be home till morning, so he had all night to explore before school started in the morning, as opposed to the usual restrictions. Sleep was not something that was of much value, but staying in this world, his world, was very valuable indeed. He didn't need anyone else, even if deep down inside the player knew she didn't want to be alone anymore  
  
End of Chapter 1 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews, they keep me motivated and let me know how I'm doing. Okay, I should confess I haven't seen .hack//Sign all the way through (You prolly guessed that ^^() ) but I know how all of it goes. But because of that I don't know quite what she looks like in real life. I assumed, and you shouldn't do that because when you assume you make an ass out of you and me. So forget about that silver hair...like Highlander II, it never happened. I'm probably going to go back and edit my stories about 10 times if Mr. Spellcheck doesn't start working better. Anyway, I hope that I can hold the interest of the few readers I've attracted and maybe even get the interest of ones I haven't with the next few chapters.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Having attained the permission of her father to spend the Saturday afternoon at the library, a Japanese girl sat at a desk that was set up a little further from the other desks. In the near empty library, she quietly read through her graphic novel. Nobody ever came to the library anymore, which was precisely the reason she came here. Most people would've rather read at a coffee house or researched at a tech center. Places that had people.  
  
Supposedly, humans were social creatures. She could see where that was true. School events like dances and sports usually had a big turn out. Personally though, she'd never attended one and never planned too. Usually people did things like that with friends, and making friends at school was a waste of time. What was the point when you most likely wouldn't see them past highschool?  
  
Still reading, her ears picked up on the conversations between the few people in the library. She didn't really mean to, it just happened a lot. People usually thought she wasn't listening, but it was the quietest people who listened the most. It sounded like a mother and child, not far away from her, were arguing.  
  
"But mother, I want to get something from the adult section!" the child whined. "Children's books are so boring." His mother sighed in exasperation.  
  
"Your just too young to read from there," reasoned his mother. "it's good to read at a levels higher than your's, but that's a little much." He did look quite young. Glancing over at him, the young girl didn't give him nine or ten years of age. Judging by the sweater vest he was wearing, it was obvious the child's mother still controlled how he dressed. The child scoffed and crossed his arms  
  
"Yeah, whatever..." Sighing, his mother took hold of his hand and guided him to the library doors.  
  
His mother was concerned for him. Having a mother like that - having a mother at all, did he really appreciate her? The sad part was the answer to that was probably a negative.  
  
You never know a good thing until it gone...  
  
Sighing, the girl returned to her graphic novel. This one happened to be one of her more favorite stories, Aqua Knight. The heroine of the story was a strong woman, even though she was not a full knight, she continued to fight. Combining the fantasy setting with this person that she wanted to be like, it was obviously a series she got into.  
  
Preferring fantasy over more realistic or futuristic animes and manga, she always indulged herself in things about swords and sorcery and the like. World's like the one she played in. "The World" was a very popular game, even those that gave her odd looks or commented about her being a "junky" played it as well. Maybe not as feverently, but a lot of people still played The World.  
  
With a fantasy setting, six classes to choose from, and the freedom to customize your character and do as you like within the game, it instantly hooked anyone who played it for even five minutes. Fields and dungeons had nearly limitless potential with the keyword system that was set up. The World even had custom e-mail to keep in contact with anyone you meet, and had it's own little messaging service in the game via Flash Mail. Recently, The World had also been set up to play in other countries, so you could find yourself partied up with someone far away, like England or America.  
  
The other people didn't really interest her. It was the freedom she enjoyed most. An escape from the ludicrous world she was forced to call home. There she found the strength she had always desired through her alter ego, Tsukasa. She was there to simply be him, not be around others. In this place she had to be around other people.  
  
As if on que, she heard a chair at the table she was sitting at being pulled out.  
  
"Wow, this is a surprise," said the intruder. "I didn't think anyone came to the libraries anymore." Looking up a bit, she saw a male teenager. He appeared to be about her age, brown hair, brown eyes, and a polite smile grazing his boyish features.  
  
She looked back down into her manga, hoping he might leave if she ignored him. She didn't have the confidence Tsukasa did, so her words would be ineffective in this situation.  
  
"Do you mind if I read here too?" he asked. His tone was friendly, but she knew better... "We could keep each other company, if you'd like." She didn't want company but there was really nothing she could do but nod simply. If he just sat there and read, it would be fine.  
  
Hoping against hope that he'd find her boring and leave, she shifted in her chair as he took his seat, placing his own book on the table and opening it up.  
  
Tsukasa, help me...  
  
"Oh," He extended his hand to her, that polite smile still shaped on his lips. "My name is Shinji Uekawa." She looked at the hand for a bit. If she didn't at least make an attempt to be polite, he'd be there even longer. Swallowing, she reached out her own hand, only just barely touching and shaking it before recoiling.  
  
"U-um," she stammered, trying to find the words. "ni-nice to meet you." The first words she had said to another human other than her father and teacher in two months. Damn. She was hoping to break her three month record.  
  
"So, whatcha reading?" he inquired, that same lie of a smile printed on his face.  
  
Without verbally replying, she lifted the book up off the table enough for the cover to show. The boy grinned, something that made her nervous. She waited for him to mock her taste in fantasy, but strangely, it did not come.  
  
"Aqua Knight, eh?" he reached into his backpack and produced another book. Upon inspecting it out of curiosity, she saw that it was of the same title, but with a different picture on the cover and thickness of pages was also different. "This is the second one, have you read it?" She shook her head lightly.  
  
"I-I just got this..." she said almost in one breath, afraid her words would fuel his continued presence. Suprisingly, he offered the book towards her, causing her to scoot back a bit. So much for him finding her boring.  
  
"You can borrow it if you like," he offered. "just bring it back here next week." She looked at the book, a bit taken a back. There was something...some catch. Some hidden intention. There had to be, why else? Did this boy think she wasn't on to his game, that she was stupid?  
  
"T-That's okay..." she managed. He shrugged and put it back in his back pack, placing the one he apparently intended to read on the table, showing her the cover. Zone of the Enders. She blinked.  
  
"Into any of the Z.O.E. media?" She shook her head. "Oh I see, not your kind of thing?" She nodded, her discomfort decreasing a bit, but her instincts still screaming caution. "I like that kind of stuff, Sci-fi, mecha, all that stuff." She fidgeted a bit. Mecha, bleh...well, at least he wasn't one of those Dragonball fanatics. Those people irritated her.  
  
He's still here...why?  
  
"So what are you into?" She wished she could wipe the smile off his face. It wasn't real, it was just for show...she was sure of it.  
  
"U-um, fantasy." She inwardly groaned, wishing that she could at least stop stuttering from her nervousness. She couldn't show any signs of weakness to anyone, even though it was so obvious she was. He nodded at her answer.  
  
"That's cool," he replied. "so you've seen things like Bastard and Star Ocean?" Oh, those were some of her favorites.  
  
"Uh, yeah," she confirmed. "Devil Man, Inuyasha, Legend of Crystals..." He nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah, those're really good." He snapped his fingers, which made her jump a bit. "Have you seen Devil Lady?" Oh, the 'sequel' to Devil Man.  
  
"Yeah...I didn't really like it." She took in a deep breath. She could do this. It wasn't so bad talking to him...common interests usually helped her work with some people when the class was assigned group project. And talking to a boy always made her feel she was getting back at her father.  
  
In fact, she ended up talking with him just a few more minutes. It was mostly one-sided, him talking about some games she had played and her nodding or shaking her head in confirmation. He was nice...but part of her kept saying to herself that she'd probably never see this person again. It didn't matter, being alone was preferred and he would only betray her in the end.  
  
It was now that her watch beeped.  
  
Oh no!  
  
"I-I have to go!" she said suddenly, throwing her book into her pack and getting up to leave.  
  
"Wait, could I at least get your e-mail?" he yelled after her. Not really thinking, the young girl reached into her pack and got out a scratch piece of paper and scribbled down her member address for The World on it and left it on the desk, making a sprint for the door.  
  
***  
  
The door flew open as the slender girls form became visible to the older man sitting in the chair. Looking at her father with an apologetic look, she then looked down at her watch.  
  
"Just barely." confirmed her father. She was right on time. She let out a breath of relief. No punishment. He was sober. Her lucky day.  
  
He rose from the chair and walked over to her as she took her shoes off at the entrance. Grabbing her shoulder so she would face him, the teen let out a suprised gasp. He held up a paper with her school's address on it. Her report card.  
  
"What's this C in gym?" he asked, the look in his eyes made her legs weak as she gulped. She never did well in gym as she was no good at anything they did and was taunted by the girls in both the class and in the locker room. She usually got low grades due to taking dress cuts so she wouldn't have to interact with those girls.  
  
"I-I-I..." She searched for an excuse, but could not come up with one. With no excuse, she simply hung her head. No excuse would've worked anyway.  
  
As she expected, the back of the large man's hand made contact with her left cheek, making the bruise that was there from the last time he had hit her sting. It wasn't as bad though, what without the alcohol powering his movements and all  
  
"I better not ever see another C in any class again." He lifted her chin to meet his menacing stare. "Are we clear?" She nodded dumbly, forcing herself not to clench her eyes shut, but blinking to force the tears away. He roughly released her. After bowing apologetically, she went to her room.  
  
She shut the door behind her, leaning back against it once it was closed and silently wept for a minute as she had usually done after something like this. Looking up through her blurry vision, she caught site of her computer. Father was probably already timing her now. Sitting down in her computer chair, she turned on her terminal, waiting impatiently for the system to load up her desktop. Once loaded, the goggles for the game were donned as the teenage player quickly logged in  
  
Login name: Tsukasa Password: *****  
  
Violet eyes opened to see the golden rings descend around him. The quite city of Mac Anu. Small boats drifting down the city channels, the stars had just begun to fill the sky as soft candle light flickered inside the town homes. All of it simulated of course; there was no way inside the houses or to meet the town's people.  
  
Everything here was fake, but sadly it was more real and truthful of itself than the real world was. It was just a game, but everyone knew that. They knew what went on here and everyone helped each other out. True, there were a few who broke the rules of the game. Where there is order, there will always be those seeking to stir chaos.  
  
A tone sounded, alerting her of an incoming Flash Mail. Puzzled, the player read the message. Talora Flash, a Blademaster. "Hey! Get home okay?"  
  
Shoot, I can't believe I gave him my member address...  
  
Having been in a rush, and not thinking straight, the member address made it's way to the boy from earlier. This blademaster was obviously his character. They had talked for a while that afternoon, did he want to talk more now?  
  
"You there?" came another message.  
  
There's no real reason to be mean...I guess...  
  
"I'm here." he sent back. His eyes were closed as he sent the message, as it was with most people in The World. It seemed like communicating telepathically, and that might have been what the programmers were going for.  
  
"Cool, so your a wavemaster, eh?" came another message, accompanied by a soft tone. "I figured you'd be one =)" Tsukasa couldn't help but smirk a bit.  
  
"Well I figured you for one of those stereotypical blademasters."  
  
"Hey, I like my guy =(." Another grin.  
  
"Heh, hurt your feelings? ;-)"  
  
"Haha, your a lot more talkative in game =) Wanna party up and go level up for a bit?" Higher levels meant there were more dungeons that he could explore, and other servers to visit. You could visit other servers if you wanted, but their dungeon levels were really high.  
  
"Maybe, I dunno...I usually come to The World to be alone."  
  
"If you don't wanna, that's ok. I just figured it'd be fun =)"  
  
Amethyst eyes opened slightly as a sigh was released. Fun, huh? Maybe it would be for others, but not to him. Yeah, he was nice and all...but this was the world he cherished for the privacy it offered. But he hadn't really pushed for anything...not even the member address through which they were chatting. He hadn't even asked the player about the bruise left upon her cheek.  
  
"Hey...earlier, you-" Tsukasa stop in mid-sentence and deleted the sentence altogether, instead sending a new one. "Sure, I guess it wouldn't hurt."  
  
"Cool, I'll invite you to my party." Ugh, were there others besides him?  
  
Talora Flash, located currently in Dun Loireag, invites you to his/her party. Accept and warp to location?  
  
Praying there was no one else in his party, the silver haired wavemaster accepted the invite, golden rings surrounding him as he was warped to the mountain-based Root Town.  
  
The quaint mountain top village was a more popular location amongst players of the world. Looking around, the young boy spotted a blue haired, green armored bladmaster approaching him. Looking both him and his equipment over, Tsukasa didn't put the blue haired swordsman as too many levels higher than he himself was  
  
"Ready to go?" he inquired, his voice low and smooth. Tsukasa visibly chuckled as he looked him over again. It was just so funny that he didn't look anything at all like the teenage boy he had met at the library. "What's so funny?" he asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.  
  
"Don't worry about." replied the wizard. In The World, it didn't really matter what you looked like. Your character could be you or the person you want to be. And it was obvious that Talora knew who he really was, having met in real life...would he treat him any different in game?  
  
Shaking his head lightly, the wavemaster tried not to think about that. The nagging thought would not be banished that simply, however, as he found his mind now filled with new anxieties.  
  
"Well, lets get goin'!" the cobalt haired swordsman exclaimed, walking past the younger boy towards the Chaos Gate.  
  
The gate lit up as Talora began placing the keywords in. Tsukasa slowly followed him.  
  
Too late to back out now...I've probably only got an hour left anyway. I'll just deal with it till then.  
  
End of Chapter 2  
  
A/N: Wow, that one took me a while. School starting had a lot to do with it. I think I might've moved this one along a little too fast as far as the story I have in mind goes, but a lot of that has to due with the lack of free time I may have to write large story. I'll try to update once per week, so keep an eye out for me! 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Since I've yet to get bad reviews, I must be doing pretty good, so here's another chapter of Forced Identity. ^^ Hopefully I'll be able to crank out chapters faster, but seeing as how I've other projects (A .hack one-shot and a Star Ocean one-shot), and college writing to deal with, that may not happen. And yes, the little kid in the last chapter was supposed to be Sora. I just wanted to give him a little cameo ^^(). Oh, and so everyone knows, this takes place about just a few months before she is trapped in the world.  
  
*Chapter 3*  
  
"Your two hours are up, get down here and eat!" boomed the voice of the young girl's father.  
  
***  
  
Tsukasa gasped as his blademaster companion opened up a treasure chest. He looked back at the wavemaster in concern.  
  
"Are you okay?" he inquired. He could see the panic written across the young wizard's face.  
  
"I've gotta go!" he replied, pulling out a Sprite Ocarina. Using the item, golden rings surrounded him as his companion shouted something that he didn't hear after him.  
  
Once back in town, the wavemaster ran to the chaos gate, not caring who he bumped into on the way.  
  
***  
  
The morning came and went. School dragged on as the girl looked outside the window. It was raining. The rain drops were slowly sliding down the window, perfectly symbolizing how slowly school was going for her.  
  
There was only ten minutes left of school, and it seemed like those ten minutes were longer than the other hours she had been there. Anxiousness? For what? She wanted out of school for some reason, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. She knew it wasn't about getting home to The World; her father had work tonight so she would have all night to play that.  
  
The soft tone that signaled the end of class sounded. She had no after-school duties, so she did not hesitate to leave the room without looking back.  
  
Keeping her eyes trained on the floor and her pack held tightly against her chest, the teenage girl navigated the halls of her school. Pushing the doors open, she walked outside, looking up at the sky that had ceased it's sprinkling. Somehow, she found herself unable to look away from the sky for a brief moment.  
  
The gray but no longer raining sky matched her mood; clouded, but without a purpose that anyone knew of. The auburn haired girl sighed as someone shouted something after a girl, resuming her walking as she continued to gaze up at the clouds.  
  
"Tuskasa!" She turn her gaze to path behind her at having heard her alter-ego's name called.  
  
A dark haired boy with an umbrella had ran up behind her, huffing and puffing when he finally caught up with her. Someone ran to see her? Since when did something like that happen?  
  
"Hey, what's up?" The boy had a small smile on his face. It took her a moment to realize that this was the boy from the library and the blademaster she had explored with the previous night.  
  
"T-that's not my name..." she said softly, her gaze turning to the ground as it usually did when she spoke with someone. "He's a...different person."  
  
"Well your real name wasn't getting through." he said with a chuckle. She looked up slightly, noticing how silly he looked with the umbrella unfolded when it wasn't raining.  
  
She tilted her head to the side a bit as she pointed towards the umbrella. The teenage boy looked up and realized her inquiry.  
  
"Oh, it's supposed to rain off and on today," he explained. "better safe than sorry, right?" It made since. He rubbed the back of his neck a bit, seemingly unsure of where to take the conversation.  
  
The young girl jumped a bit as she felt something cool and wet come into contact with the soft skin of her arm. A drop of water had fell from the sky. Just as the boy had said, more and more began to fall. Moving more swiftly than she would have liked, her "companion" moved so that they could both find shelter under the umbrella.  
  
"See what I mean?" She turned her back to him and began walking in the direction of her home.  
  
The rain fell upon her, her clothes beginning to moisten as she started off. The rain suddenly stopped around her as she found the umbrella over her head again.  
  
"Um, mind if I walk you home?" asked the owner of the umbrella. "Wouldn't want you to get soaked and catch a cold." Walk her home? Father would be there.  
  
"N-no, I'm okay." she insisted. The adolescent boy tilted his head a bit.  
  
"C'mon, it's not a big deal," he offered. "It's no big deal to me." Her gaze returned to the ground, wishing he would understand.  
  
"I-it's okay...please, believe me." She didn't want him to see her father if he was drunk or for him to get in trouble with him for walking with her. She wasn't supposed to bring people over.  
  
"Well, if you really don't want me to tag along," he said, handing her the umbrella. "At least take this with you." She looked at the object with curiosity. What price would this kindness come at? If she had it, what about him? What did he want out of this...?  
  
"I-I can't," she said, shaking her head lightly. "that's your's." He just smiled and pushed the handle towards her.  
  
"I insist." he stated. She chewed at her bottom lip. If she took too long to get home, she would be punished again. Subconciously touching the bruise on her cheek, she wondered why he hadn't asked about it yet, when other's would've jumped on her about it, or at the very least, gawk at the black and blue bruise.  
  
Reaching out, she hesitantly took the umbrella from him, her shaky hands drawing the thin shelter away from him. He smiled once more, even as the rain began to pour down on him, waving slightly.  
  
"Meet me at Mac Anu tonight!" he said as he ran off. She watched him for a moment before walking in the direction of her own house.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, early today?" inquired her father as she walked through the door, stopping to remove her shoes and close the umbrella.  
  
"Y-yes...I came s-straight home." She gripped the umbrella in both hands, as he stood and stalked over to her.  
  
"So why are you late other days then?" She cringed inwardly at her poor choice of words. "And where the hell did you get this?" he asked, tearing the umbrella away from her shaky hands. She swallowed hard as he held it up for her to see.  
  
"A f-friend let me use it..." She didn't dare look away, but could not look him in the eye either. He scoffed.  
  
"Friend?" he began. "Who're you kidding, you don't have any friends. Where'd you really get it?" She couldn't think of a thing to say, her knees shaking.  
  
She watched as he took the umbrella and smack it against the wall, throwing it to the ground and stomping it firmly so it was broken. The innocuous girl could ony watch.  
  
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter where you got it from now." He walked of after giving her the broken umbrella. It wasn't her's, so why did she care what happened to it? Why did she feel such guilt as she trudged upstairs.  
  
Regardless of how she felt, she'd have to explain this to the umbrella's owner. She would have to wait the adequate amount of time and meet in in The World like he had asked.  
  
***  
  
"Don't worry about it." said the blue haired swordsman, his feet dangling over the ledge of where the two sat.  
  
"Your not angry?" asked the young wavemaster, his eyes wide in disbelief. Talora chuckled a bit at his surprise.  
  
"Well, you did say you trip on your way inside, right?" Tsukasa looked down into the water and nodded softly. "Well, accidents happen. I've got another somewhere." Tsukasa let out a sigh of relief and stood up.  
  
"Okay, sorry again." He turned to leave.  
  
"Hey, where ya goin'?" inquired the aqua haired man. The wavemaster gave a half-shrug.  
  
"No where in particular." he answered. The blademaster stood up and walked after him.  
  
"Well hey, wait up." he requested as the wavemaster continued walking towards the Chaos Gate. "Are you up for a dungeon adventure? We never really got to finish our last one, you know."  
  
That was true. The young wizard had to admit that the experience wasn't painful or anything like that. And with what happened earlier that afternoon, he couldn't just walk away after apologizing, could he? It's not like it would be that bad. Last time, he had just done what he'd always done, except he was splitting the treasure with someone.  
  
"Sure, I guess..." he answered. He had all night, so things would be fine.  
  
***  
  
"Finally made it." stated the green armored swordsman, walking up to the Gott Statue's treasure chest. He opened the chest and pulled out three items that the younger boy could not see. One was a larger metallic object that looked like a staff. He turned around and tossed the staff to Tsukasa, his amethyst eyes opening wide in surprise as he caught it, causing him to drop his other staff.  
  
The young boy looked over the newly recieved item. The rod was better than the one he had, which was actually a few levels below his character level. It was a white color, the head of the staff forming a crecent kind of shape, a red spherical ruby ordaining the center of the arch.  
  
"That's a pretty good rod, you can sell your old one and use that one." said his companion. Tsukasa looked the rod over, nodding and picking up his old one.  
  
"Thanks, I think I'll do that," he said, pulling out a sprite ocarina. "I'm gonna head out now." Before he could leave the blademaster spoke again.  
  
"Hey, some friends of mine are gonna be on tommarow," he explained. "Would you come with us? I know you don't like groups of people and all, but I want you to meet my pals." The wavemaster shook his head.  
  
"I dunno..." stated the young wizard. "why do you want me come?" he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.  
  
"I just figured it'd be fun," said the blademaster. "I promise, all you'll have to do is follow us through a dungeon or two, hang out in the back and do what you normally do."  
  
"I'll think about it," said the silver haired boy, looking down at his new staff. "but no promises." Talora nodded slightly.  
  
"Well, just promise me you'll think about it then." Tsukasa scoffed a bit.  
  
"From what I've seen," he began. "promises are made to be broken." he finished, warping from the dungeon with his Sprite Ocarina, the new staff still gripped tightly in one hand.  
  
*End Chapter 3  
  
A/N: Wee, that took forever. I feel like I had to force this chapter, to the point where I didn't proofread well, so I'm not at all satisfied with it, and I'm sorry if any of you are dissappointed. I'll try to make the next one better and a bit longer. It may go to being two weeks an update because I'm not starting on a term paper for one of my classes. Combine that with work and there goes most of my free time. So updates will come slowly, but stick with me! I love my readers! 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! I like that you like my story, and that kind of like makes me like it when I write, so there's just a whole buncha like flowing around. As I said, school's going to be holding me back from cranking out chapters, but know that I'm trying. Personally, I'd like to take this time to blame College Writing, work, and .hack//Outbreak. In that order.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
School couldn't have dragged on any slower. The adolescent was thankful for this, for tonight was to be the night that she joined Talora and his friends.  
  
Several times she had thought about simply not showing up. It's not as though she had promised him he'd be there - just promised that she'd think about it. She'd thought about it all morning and all afternoon. It didn't sound so bad...  
  
I promise, all you'll have to do is follow us through a dungeon or two, hang out in the back and do what you normally do.  
  
That all sounded good, but there were going to be two other people she didn't know there. She didn't want to be mean to any of them, but if they interacted with her, she would play her character perfectly. There was no reason for her to alter her way of playing The World just to suit the needs of others.  
  
They way she saw it, she could just show up and then take off if she felt like it. He invited her to tag along, so what they were doing didn't really concern her. If she felt like leaving, why should they stop her? Every person in The World had their own way of playing the game. But she did owe him for the staff...  
  
***  
  
"Tsukasa, over here!" shouted a person from afar.  
  
The young wizard turned towards the source, seeing Talora waving at him with three other people standing with him. Face set with confidence, Tsukasa strode towards the small group of what looked to be made up of Talora, a Twin Blade, a Long Arm, and another Wavemaster.  
  
"Hey," greeted the blademaster. "part of me thought you wouldn't come." The silver haired boy shrugged.  
  
"Nothing better to do." he replied. The swordsman nodded as he motioned towards the female twin blade.  
  
"This is Raisequel," he began. "her real name's Yuri. She's been my friend for years." The twin blade stood there, her hands raised in the air and resting on her head.  
  
"Nice to meet you..." Tsukasa barely heard the girl. He didn't know if it was his apathy or her's.  
  
"Over there is Bogen," said Talora, pointing over at the second wavemaster. "he's our online friend that lives in America." Bogen smiled cheerfully.  
  
"Looks like we'll be handling that magic today!"  
  
  
  
"And last is our classmate Ryoji, playing as the long arm Cerenomos." The spearman smiled and raised his hand in a motionless wave.  
  
"Hi there." he greeted.  
  
  
  
"So, here's how the teams are gonna work out," began Talora. "Raisequal and Cerenomos will be with me and Tsukasa and Bogen will form their own party, that way we will be more organized."  
  
"Good idea." said the blonde spearsman. Bogen ran over to his fellow wavemaster, brushing away the red hair that dangled out from underneath his cap.  
  
"Lets exchange addresses!" he exclaimed with delight, much to the dismay of the silver haired boy. Tsukasa sighed as he gave his member address to another person.  
  
Once Talora had confirmed everyone was in there respective parties, the group set off to the dungeon of the field they had warped into. With a sigh, Tsukasa followed at the back of the group.  
  
***  
  
"Damn," cursed the twin blade. "I'm out of healing potions." She turned towards the wavemasters party. "You know, you guys could help with the healing, don't you have spells?"  
  
"Don't you?" quipped Tsukasa, much to the agitation of the twin blade.  
  
"If you hadn't noticed, I used most of my SP on that damned monster I was fighting!" she replied fiercely. "You guys are on one party for back- up, that means you heal!" The silver haired wavemaster shrugged.  
  
"Hey, don't blame your inability to stay alive on me. I'm pulling my weight around here," he stated. Bogen stood there, unable to reply even though he was being addressed as well. The twin blade chose this time to take notice of the redhead's quietness.  
  
"Why don't you say something?" she inquired. Bogen swallowed a bit, carefully using the excuse he usually used.  
  
"You know I'm a few levels behind you guys..." he said, his head bowed slightly. Raisequal approached him, her feet stomping out her angry steps. A string of complaints and questions all flew from her mouth as Tsukasa's grip on his wand tightened at the familiar situation.  
  
  
  
His thoughts and the party's quarrling were settled by the sound of Talora's voice.  
  
"Hey, Yuri," he called out, walking up behind her and clapping a hand onto her her shoulder. "Calm down, it's okay." The dagger-weilding girl turned around to face her friend, letting out a sigh and walking through one of the northern doors of the dungeon.  
  
"I'm sorry, Tal..." he said, his shoulders slumping. "I didn't even think about it."  
  
"Don't worry," he assured, turning his gaze towards Tsukasa. "Sorry about that, she's a bit..." he trailed off, not really able to find a friendly term for his friend's demanding attitude. The wavemaster just looked at him, letting him know he didn't wish to persue the subject any further. The blademaster walked forward, followed by Cerenomos.  
  
"Wow Tsukasa," said his "companion". "I've never seen someone be so straight-forward with her before. You're really strong." Tsukasa blinked. Strong? A cowardly little girl hiding behind this smokescreen of a person, afraid of everyone and everything in the real world?  
  
"Yeah, sure." he replied, walking after everyone else.  
  
***  
  
"Hey," called out Cerenomos, tiredly walking to Tsukasa's side. "how come you didn't do anything when I called out for help? That guy almost got me." The wavemaster was forced to shrug again.  
  
"Why didn't someone else? It had nothing to do with me," he said, motioning to the left. "I was busy with a big guy over there."  
  
"Yeah but still..." He decided to stop, not wanting to demand too much of the new person. Tsukasa yawned boredly as he pulled out a sprite ocarina.  
  
"Well, if you guys are done using me, I'm going back to town for tonight." he said. The female twin blade was fuming.  
  
"But we're not done yet!" she yelled. Tsukasa smirked.  
  
"But I am." With that, the wavemaster warped from the dungeon.  
  
***  
  
After that time, Tsukasa had met with Talora's group in The World two more times, each time ending with his warp from the dungeon. Talora never said anything about it, but Rasequal more than made up for the group's silence. Bye the end of the month, she had hated the wavemaster for his flippant nature and whimsical ways. Even though he was a high level, he didn't really play the game, he just stood around.  
  
Tsukasa was a bit surprised when Talora had asked him to join them in the real world.  
  
"Watch anime?" Tsukasa inquired, his eyes narrowed to sense any hidden motives.  
  
"Yeah, Ryoji and Yuri will be there." Wow, that would make someone feel better. Go to someone's house with the fresh bruises she had recieved the other day from knocking over a bucket of water she had been cleaning with?  
  
"I dunno, I'd prefer they not know me." he said, causing the blademaster to tilt his head in curiosity.  
  
"But they do know you," he said. The silver haired wavemaster shook his head.  
  
"They know this character." The real Tsukasa and the Tsukasa that resided in The World were two different people. Yet Talora persisted. Father would not approve, but a reason to go out wouldn't be to hard to find. And after all, chances to defy father didn't come very often.  
  
A/N: *groans* Wow that sucked...I promise the next chapter will be bunches better, especially since it's the second to last. I'll be free from my writing class at the end of next week! I'll have more time to work on this story, as this chapter really sucked. Sorry for the long wait, please stick with me! 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I beat .hack//Outbreak...I certainly hope Quarantine is longer. Well, the story's winding down to the last chapter. Sorry if I made Tsukasa look like an ass last time, but that's how I view his character. He's everything she's not, which is why it was so easy for Morganna to manipulate her. I view Tsukasa as playfully flippant.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Study group?" asked her father, his arms folded across his chest. The timid girl nodded, her hands clasped in front of her and her head bowed slightly.  
  
"Y-yes, it's f-from four to eight..." He studied her. Could he tell? She was shaking and swallowing constantly, afraid to be found out, even though he didn't believe she even had friends. But he was sure to percieve something in her scared manner.  
  
"Fine," he agreed. "be home at eight on the dot." Her eyes widened, but she did not dare lift her head to show her excitement. She simply nodded her appreciation. She was surprised he didn't figure her out, but maybe it was because she was always afraid of him.  
  
***  
  
Clad in a long white t-shirt and baggy blue jeans, the auburn haired girl walked down the street, looking from house to house for the proper address that was written down and handed to her by Shinji after school the other day.  
  
They would be watching some older anime and eating junkfood. Being teens. Was she really allowed to be that relaxed in the real world? Hardly. Ryoji didn't seem so bad, but Yuri...if she was anything like her character...  
  
To top it all off, her teacher had called home, reporting that she hadn't dressed again for gym and would have to serve a detention. This left her with a black eye and some bruises on her left arm. She was ashamed to go out, but if she didn't go she would only be letting him win. This was to be her first step of defiance.  
  
The proper building came into view. Taking in a deep breath, she walked forward and up the porch, rapping lightly on the door. She continued to hold her face of confidence as the door opened, just like Tsukasa.  
  
The brown haired boy that answered the door smiled at her, standing aside to let her in, his brown eyes as kind as always. She took her shoes off and set them next to everyone else's.  
  
"Glad you made it!" Shinji greeted happily. "Have any trouble finding the place?" She shrugged lightly, picking out her words for her response.  
  
"No trouble." she replied. Her face may have been bruised, but it was confident. That confidence shattered when she noticed a red-headed girl reclining int the chair in front of the sofa.  
  
She looked up at her, her green eyes narrowing as she stood to "greet" her.  
  
"You never said Tsukasa was a girl, Shinji..." She had like a guy from afar. She inspected the auburn haired girl's face. "Jesus, what happened to you?" The redhead watched her peer look to the floor.  
  
"W-well, th-the other day..." No more words came. Shinji broke the silence.  
  
"Hey, has Ryoji started the show yet?" Yuri shrugged, walking over to her classmate, throwing another glance over her shoulder at the "sharp- tongued wavemaster" that was supposed to be Tsukasa.  
  
  
  
***  
  
Shinji gave her the grand tour of his small home. He lived with his parents who were out for the evening, as they usually were on friday nights so as to give their son and his friends some privacy.  
  
"It must have been wonderful to have considerate parents..."  
  
"Oh, they like getting out on the weekends," he scratched the back of his head. "I really threw a wrench into their love life ya know..."  
  
  
  
She flushed furiously as she averted her gaze to the floor. The boy led her around the house and back to the living room, having shown him all but his room.  
  
Ryoji, she guessed that's who it was, was sitting on the couch. not knowing where else to sit, she sat on the opposite end of the couch, recieving a nod of acknowledgement from the person on the other end, she turned her gaze to her feet once again. Shinji soon sat between them, his blue oracles searching the menu of the dvd they were watching for the episode guide.  
  
For accidentally excluding her, a glare from Yuri was sent her way.  
  
***  
  
"So what'd you think?" the auburn haired girl looked over to the male adolecent sitting beside her.  
  
"I'd never seen Neo Ranga before..." She thought it would be mecha but it wasn't, in fact it had a lot of fantasy elements to it. "I liked it." she replied.  
  
She looked at the clock; one volume contained 8 episodes that while short still consumed most of her time.  
  
"I have to get going..." she said, standing up. Shinji grabbed her arm, causing her to flinch and anchor herself to where she stood.  
  
"If you want I can loan you the next two volumes." She sighed softly, shaking her head free of fears. He wouldn't hurt her.  
  
"Sure." she accepted. He smiled and stood up, tugging her arm in the direction of the hall.  
  
"Okay, I'll get them for you and you an see my collection real quick." She nodded hesitantly and followed him down the hall.  
  
"Stupid dyke..." muttered Yuri, the comment being picked up on by Ryoji's keen eavesdropping abilities. He snickered as he watched her finish off her can of soda.  
  
"What's a matter? Jealous...?" he asked teasingly. The very can he'd watched her finish came flying at him as she shouted.  
  
"Shut your hole, dumbass!" The boy laughed at her fury as he raised his arms in time to guard against the offending piece of aluminum.  
  
***  
"Wow..." said the young girl upon seeing her companion's room. Gundam action figures out up all over the room in various poses. There were also a few Evangelion figures set up around the room and a Vandread wallscroll on the ceiling. It was a bit messy, not like her room. Her room had to be kept clean.  
  
"Sorry it's a bit of a mess," he said, wakling towards a book case amidst the motionless war that seemed to go on between the figures. "Here it is." he said, motioning to the tall bookcase that was filled with various mangas and DVDs. Most of them were about mecha and sci-fi, but there was also a decent selection of fantasy and even shojo.  
  
She was so taken a back that she sat back down on his bed, lowering her gaze to the floor. She was happy with nothing but her health and her world, but seeing all these things that she couldn't have made her a bit depressed. She felt the brown haired boy sit down next to her.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice filled with that concern that she was starting to believe was there.  
  
"Fine." she replied. The next volumes of Neo Ranga found their way to her lap. She looked down at them, flipping them over to read what was on the back.  
  
"Listen," he started off, a bit of hesitation in his voice. "you don't have to answer me. I've put it off before, but I'm just worried about you. What are these bruises I see on you?" She froze.  
  
I don't want to tell him. I don't want him to know. It's none of his business.  
  
"I'm just clumsy, that's all..." she said. He put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to inhale sharply.  
  
"You can tell me," he tried to assure her. "I won't tell anyone."  
  
I don't wanna lie like this...but I don't think I have a choice. This might be the only way.  
  
Blue orbs looked up at the brown ones that looked down at her. Her slender hand reached up to touch the hand of his that was resting on her shoulder. She smiled. She actually smiled at another human being.  
  
"Don't worry about me," she said, letting her smile broaden a bit. "Please." He smiled a bit himself, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks.  
  
"I think that's the first time I've seen you smile in person," he said, chuckling lightly. She wasn't prepared for what followed. "You're really pretty when you do smile." Shut up! You lie! A butch, battered, and bruised girl?! Don't make me laugh!  
  
All she could do was suedo-shyly looked down and take her hand from his and return it to her lap.  
  
I hate women that play themselves off to change the subject, but it works...sadly.  
  
She barely had time to gasp before her mouth was covered by his, cutting off any sound she would have liked to make. But instead of her mouth amkinga noise, she soon heard another noise. The sharp, familiar sound of an open palm meeting with the flesh of a cheek at a high velocity.  
  
Time was frozen, regardless of how quickly everything had just happened. She stared at her hand for a moment, then looking up at the red flesh of Shinji's right cheek. Her lips quivered as she backed into a corner of the room. She had been foolish enough to strike back at her father once, and her efforts had landed her in the hospital. She knew what would come.  
  
"P-please, d-don't hurt me," she said, her voice shaken with fear as she awaited the blows she knew would come.  
  
The blows never game. She looked up to see the boy's head bowed, a tear slowly trailign down his still pink cheek.  
  
"I...I'm sorry..." he said, swallowing down a lump in his throat. "I shouldn't have done that...it's just...I really like you."  
  
  
  
"I know you're kind of in your shell, but I really wanted to help open you up..."  
  
  
  
She rose to her feet, her cowering replaced by an anger that was fueled by feelings of betrayal.  
  
"So...so I was just some conquest to you?!" she shouted, seeing him cringe at her words.  
  
"N-no, it's not like that!" he protested, standing up as well.  
  
"So it was pity then?" she asked, her fist closing tightly as she stared into his eyes, trying to be intimidating, but not realizing it.  
  
"No! I really just...I..." he lost his words. He had never expected things to turn out like this.  
  
"See? You can't find an explanation because it's true!" she said, ognoring the wetness that began to slide down her cheek. "All you were looking for the from the beginning was that kiss!" Now it was his turn to become frustrated.  
  
"Can't you just accept that someone wanted to be your friend?" he replied. "Listen to you; do you know who you sound like?!" he said, pointing out how her alter ego was beginning to show through.  
  
"So what!" she replied, a hand opening and resting across her chest. "I'd rather be him anyway! Things would be...would be...so much easier!" He shook his head, scoffing a bit, and was that a hint of disgust she sensed?  
  
"What is with you?" he said, resting his head in his hand. "I didn't want to say anything, but those clothes, your hair, your real attitude...it's like you really do want to be a boy! Maybe that's why that kiss freaked you out so much!"  
  
Silence.  
  
"I-I'm sorry," he said, moving closer to her as he looked to the door frame to see it's space filled with his friend Yuri's slender figure. Her eyes narrowed at the other girl and fists clenched, outraged at the treatment of her friend.  
  
Her figure was pushed out of the door however as the auburn haired girl pushed past the two of them and out the door, taking off down the street, leaving the two in dumb silence. Ryoji walked in, rubbing the back of his head.  
  
"Hey, she just tore out of here...did I miss something?" Shinji sighed.  
  
***  
  
She ran. She blindly ran in the direction of her home. It was late, and there was a hurt inside of her that was hard to describe. It was friday...she head all night. The World. Yes, The World. If she played The World, if she was Tsukasa she'd feel better.  
  
She reached her door while fumbling for the key, but the door opened for her, a large hand shooting out and grabbing her wrist and painfully yanking her inside. Her father towered over, the alchohol the plagued his breath making her gag slightly.  
  
"So in this study group, you use books?" he asked, putting emphasis on his last word. She didn't think he would really be that thoughtful, but to her dismay, her books were stacked on their kitchen table, which she could see from the doorway.  
  
She'd been caught.  
  
"Where've you been?" She began to sob slightly. She was trapped. "I asked you a question, boy!" A slap fell onto her cheek, hurting more because of the already present mark. The first of many she would recieve.  
  
***  
  
The wavemaster sat in his favorite spot in Dun Loireag. Father had been too drunk and too tired after the punishment to take the computer away. He laid back in the grass and looked up into the night sky, when person with spiky red hair blocked her view.  
  
"Hey bitch," the person greeted. "get up!" Tsukasa haggardly rose to his feet, casting an annoyed look to the person bothering him. It was Raisequal. The twin blade glared daggers at him, walking forward and shoving him backwards, causing him to stumble back a bit.  
  
The silder haired wavemaster glared right back at her, quickly composing himself and standing up.  
  
"Heard about how you slapped Shinji," she said, her grip on her daggers tightening. "noboy treats my friends like that." she said in a matter of fact tone. Suddenly, she rushed forward, bringing one blade upwards to slash at her opponent, the blade halted by his staff.  
  
"Why can't you people just leave me alone?!" he asked, doing his best to parry her attacks. A plump man that looked like one of the shop keepers appeared next to them.  
  
"Please take all Player to Player duels to a field. Combat is not allowed in the Root Towns and is punishable by access limitation." The man's soft message interuppted their struggle. The spiky headed girl ceased and scoffed.  
  
"I thought so..." she spat, looking to the Chaos Gate. "I fixed up this nice little place for us; Rejecting Oblivious Wavemaster." She grinned at the irony of her choice of keywords. "If your not afraid, you'll meet me there." With that, she stalked off towards the spinning gate.  
  
Amethyst eyes closed in silent frustration, opening a second later to reveal a more calm expression.  
  
"I'm not afraid..." he whispered to himself, stepping towards the gate that was located across the several bridges that link the mountain tops of Dun Loireag together.  
  
***  
"Hah, so ya actually came?" The red headed twinblade snorted as she readied herself in a combat stance. "Hope you're ready to get hurt!" Twinblades were fast, but weak.  
  
  
  
Confident in a swift victory, Raisequal rushed forward recklessly as Tsukasa raised his staff in the air, calling out the name of a spell, causing his opponent to stop dead in her tracks.  
  
"P..paralysis?!" she gasped in disbelief, mentally scolding herself for her carelessness. She looked up at the offending wizard, casting him a furious look.  
  
"Listen..." Tsukasa began as he walked towards his paralyzed opponent. "I don't know why you're doign this, there's no point."  
  
"There's a big point to be made!" she snapped back. Tsukasa smirked.  
  
Listen, I don't particularly care if you have some crush on that guy." he said, closing his eyes and sighing. "I don't want anything to do with either of you, and he's not exactly my type." Raisequal scoffed.  
  
"Yeah, I know what your type is." The silver haired boy's eyes remained closed in frustration.  
  
"No one is my type, I just want to be left alone." he said, looking up in time to see the twinblade rush at him. She slashed him before he could think, making a clean slice across his abdomen. The youthful mage fell to the ground with a sharp cry of pain. The spell didn't work long on other players and he was careless for ignoring that fact.  
  
Her weapon must have had a Death effect, for the one slice had left Tsukasa reeling, his HP bar barely showing anything at all. His attacker looked back at him, spitting to the side arrogantly.  
  
"Well, guess I'll leave you alone then." With that, golden rings decended around her, warping her back to the Root Town.  
  
  
  
The silver haired boy placed his hand where the gash was, watching the palm of his hand glow a soft yellow as his HP restored from the effects of a Healing Potion. He stood, rubbing his head as he sat down on a large rock nearby, listening to the crashing of the waves against the rocks.  
  
  
  
If you are lost in your way  
Deep in an awesome story  
  
He looked towards the dungeon. His head hanging, he stood and walked towards the entrance, the gaping mouth symbolizing to him how he wished this world could swallow him up so he wouldn't have to go back to the other world.  
  
Don't be in doubt and stray  
Cling to your lonesome folly  
  
I  
  
Now you're too close to the pain  
Let all the rain go further  
  
He rounded the corner, thankful that the encounter rate in the dungeon was not high. Fighting was the last thing he wanted to do.  
  
Come back and kiss me in vain  
Mother oh do not bother  
  
  
  
Hear the chorus of pain  
Taking you you back to proper ways  
  
He looked down at the floor, noticing how the gooey substance stuck to the bottom of his shoes as he decended to the bottom floor. but what to do once he got there? He'd just have to go back.  
  
It's so easy to find  
If you could remind me  
  
  
  
Now, you are lost in your way  
Deep in an awesome story  
  
The chest was opened, but before the young mage could look to see what was inside, there was a voice. It wasn't part of the background music and it wasn't another player's voice.  
  
So I will find you again  
Kiss you for lonesome folly  
  
*I have been waiting for you for such a long time...*  
  
Blinding pain; that was what the wavemaster felt. He screamed loudly as he felt as though he were being ripped apart. It was just a game, and a game shouldn't hurt like this did. But it wasn't really Tsukasa screaming, it was the scared little girl on the other end.  
  
She tried to pull the goggles off but she was shaking too badly, losing all form of self control as her body spasmed from the intense pain. Her conciousness faded to the point where she could no longer hear her own pitiful cries. Slowly - painfully slowly - both worlds went black as she heared the same calm voice before she went out completely.  
  
*...I need you...just as you need me.*  
  
***  
  
I  
  
I  
  
I  
  
I  
  
P  
  
I  
  
I  
  
I  
  
I finally realize...I don't have to be afraid of you or my father anymore.  
  
I  
  
Welcome back  
  
A/N: Those quotes might not be in order - heck, they might not even be correct, but I tried. Anywho, somehow I felt like I should briefly recap .hack//Sign in some way, or at least Tsukasa's experiences during it. It's not by any means a good solution, but I think it works. I had trouble thinking of where to put it: at the end of this chapter, or at the start of my next one. Ultimately, I think it makes more sense to put it here. What do you guys think? Let me know and stay tuned for the final chapter, where I'll try to wrap everything up! 


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